'Bondage club' expense irks insiders

Top donors and committee members for the Republican National Committee expressed outrage Monday over the nearly $2,000 the committee spent on “meals” at a bondage-themed club in West Hollywood.

The $1,946.25 — first reported in a story by The Daily Caller — was approved by the RNC from an expense filed by Orange County GOP consultant Erik Brown during a committee fundraising trip to Southern California.

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The RNC said Monday that Brown, who did not answer many phone calls and e-mails, is repaying the expenditure. But for committee players who spoke to POLITICO, the expense is the latest example of what they see as a careless attitude Michael Steele has taken in spending RNC funds during his chairmanship.

“This incident does not help the RNC leadership dispel the charge that they are nothing but duplicitous high rollers and big spenders; at a time when we should have the president and his collectivist friends on the ropes, we find our leadership on the defensive. That’s a bad deal,” said former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, whom Steele beat in his campaign for RNC chairman.

“The RNC cannot attack Democrats for how the government spends taxpayer money when it is spending Republican donor money recklessly. Recent RNC spending stories suggest a tone-deafness at best and a misappropriation of funds at worst,” added Mike DeMoss, a longtime RNC donor who served as a liaison to the evangelical community for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

“Given that RNC funds were used to pay or reimburse a bill at a nightclub, it is immaterial whether or not Chairman Steele was actually there himself,” said DeMoss. “Ultimately, the RNC can spend however it wishes — it just may have less to spend the next time around. Sadly, the RNC could have been setting a new standard of political party fiscal responsibility; instead, we’re talking about expense reports with entertainment at a bondage club.”

RNC Communications Director Doug Heye insisted that Steele has “never” been to the club.

“The chairman was never at the location in question; he had no knowledge of the expenditure; nor does he find the use of committee funds at such a location at all acceptable,” Heye said.

The RNC says it is “investigating” what happened, and as it does, many questions remain.

As of Monday night, it was not clear who signed off on the expense or why. It remains unknown why Brown — who is not affiliated with the RNC — was allowed to spend committee funds. And assuming Steele was not there, it’s unclear if any RNC members or donors were there enjoying what The Daily Caller reported to be “topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex” on the committee’s dime.

“It goes without saying that such an expense is more than unacceptable,” said Henry Barbour, a committeeman from Mississippi. “I have to believe this is some sort of bad mistake and, I hope, bad reporting.”